default

in default of (something)

Due to the absence or lack of something; through the failure of something. Though it was only a speeding ticket, Janet was imprisoned in default of paying the fine.In default of concrete evidence, the jury was obligated to acquit the defendant of murder.

default on (something)

default on something

to fail to act in some way regarding something, such as failing to make a payment, thereby losing one's right to the thing in question. You are not going to default on your loan, are you?She defaulted on her mortgage payments and lost the house.

in default of

Through the failure, absence, or lack of, as in In default of a better solution, we'll have to make do with this one. This term was originally put as for default of, but John Gower had the current wording in Confessio Amantis (1397): "The fish, if it be dry, might in default of water die." [Late 1200s]

by deˈfault

1 a game or competition can be won by default if there are no other competitors: The other team didn’t even turn up, so we won by default.2 if something happens by default, it happens because you have not made any other decision or choices which would make things happen differently: It was never my ambition to get into teaching. I became a teacher more by default than by choice.

17, 2002--Standard & Poor's Risk Solutions today released preliminary year-end default statistics for calendar year 2002 indicating that the dollar amount of debt defaulting will vault to a record $157.

25, because investors were receiving all of their payments on time, while the company's local and foreign currency ratings were 'SD', as TGN had begun defaulting on some, but not all, of its financial obligations.

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